The Phillies’ right-hander has been inconsistent to begin the season.
The start to the 2023 season has been disappointing for the Phillies. There have been issues on both sides of the plate. The team’s pitching has struggled at times and so has the offense. Aaron Nola has been scrutinized through much of his career in Philadelphia and has had an inconsistent start to his contract year.
Nola has had a rough start to the season. He has shown glimpses of pitching well but seems to have a blow-up inning that inevitably knocks him out of the game. Through four starts, the right-hander has an ERA of 5.91 and 19 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings pitched. According to Baseball-Reference, Nola has pitched well in innings 1-3 in the early part of the season. In the early parts of games, Nola has a 2.25 ERA and has struck out fourteen batters in that span.
Nola seems to lose his groove in the middle innings. In innings 4-6, he has an ERA over 9.00 and has struck out just five batters. The opponents’ batting average also increases from .200 in the early innings, to .400 in the middle innings.
What is causing Nola’s struggles in the later parts of the game? One possibility is that he did not throw a pitch past the 4th inning in any of his five spring training starts. He may be taking some time to get into condition to pitch deeper into games. This could be something that many of the Phillies are struggling with as all of them have failed to pitch six or more innings with just a few exceptions.
Early in the season starting pitchers are typically held back a bit as they build up strength to pitch deeper into games. Nola has now made four starts. He should be getting to the point where he is able to go deeper into games as his arm strength has been building for a few weeks now, however, that is still a question.
Nola’s numbers looked better during Sunday’s start. He was able to pitch six innings and allow two earned runs. Nola struggled with command later in his start, however. He ended up walking three batters which drove up his pitch count. During the sixth inning, Nola threw a four-seam fastball that topped out at just 89 MPH. This indicates that his arm strength is still not built up to where it needs to be to go deep into games.
The Phillies are relying on Nola and fellow ace, Zack Wheeler, to anchor their starting rotation. Both have shown signs of pitching well, but there have still been some concerns. Wheeler looked much better in his most recent start. His velocity was up from where it had been to start the season and he was able to pitch six innings of one run ball. The club now needs Nola to find his groove and help steady the starting rotation. Sunday’s appearance was a step in the right direction.
